Megopteran
Episode 3.10 Primeval Evolved Week 9}} The Megopteran was created by Carim Nahaboo, aged 16, from Woodford Green, Essex. He won the competition held by ITV for designing a creature. Carim called his creature a "Megopteran", though the creature has not been named on-screen. Description This monster is a highly adapted predator from the future, which has evolved from carnivorous insects, such as the Tiger Beetle, Tarantula Wasps, Ants or Praying Mantis (most likely the Latter). It grows to 2-4 metres long and as tall or taller as a grown man. Posessing 6 strong legs, a long arched neck, and medium sized wings (allowing flight over short distances) it is a well adapted generalist hunter who will readily attack any avaliable prey. They appear to communicate in a series of loud hollow clicking sounds. Lacking antennae, the creatures use their large compound eyes to detect prey. When it has found a suitable victim, it will use its large mantis-like forelegs to catch it, whilst the razor sharp superstrong mantables make short work of the meal (as shown it killed a full-grown man in seconds). Its long legs make it a very fast runner as its shown to keep up with Future Predators and it apparently prefers to hunt at groundlevel (since they can only fly short distances), and they relentlessly pursue prey no matter where it tries to hide. They are shown to be quite strong as a baby Megopteran has shown to crack a window by slamming into it without injury where a normal human would be crying in agony holding their broken hand in pain. Although evolved from hive based insects they do not seem to live in the same large colonies and have yet to show any distinct castes although three distinct sizes have been seen they all exhibit similar characteristics. The youngest Megopteran are the smallest at only 30 cm, layed as eggs inside the flesh of captured prey and rapidly develop emerging from the corpse as a small scale version of the adult. The man-sized versions are the most commonly encounted. The largest versions are twice this size and only one or two have been seen. This could have been the queen of a group of megopterans. It is currently unknown if these variations are the result of age, caste differences or sexual dimorphism. They appear to be one of the apex predators of the ecosystems of the future, the other of course being the Future Predator. Given the food requirements of such large predators, it is implied these creatures do come into conflict with each other (or they even eat each other as shown in Episode 3.8.) Young The Megopteran goes through a pupal stage, as seen under the microscope in Primeval Evolved. Primeval Evolved also states that the Worms are the same species as the Megopteran, as, in the sketchbook, they are in the factfile about Megopteran, and are also labelled 'Megopteran Larvae'. It was also stated in the DVD extra Genesis of a Creature that the "future worm" is the larval state of the Megopteran. However, the hatchling Megopteran also seen in Episode 3.8 was not a maggot, but a smaller version of the adult. It may be that soldier Megopterans are capable of developing faster. When Jack Maitland is trapped in the Future City, he is attacked by the Megopteran maggot in the pit he falls into, he is eventually retrieved by the ARC team. (Episode 3.8) History Sometime after the Future Predators were apparently created (Episode 3.10) and wiped out Humanity, the Megopteran thrived in ruined human cities and competed with the Future Predators. An anomaly opened up in a Race Circuit in the Present and was tended by the ARC. A Megopteran came through and attacked Danny Quinn, although it was soon killed by a passing car. When Abby's brother Jack Maitland arrived and was attacked by a Megopteran, he escaped to the Future. The team set off to rescue him, despite being hindered by both Megopteran and Future Predators, they were successful. (Episode 3.8) An anomaly opened to Christine Jonhson office and a Megopteran comes through. You fight with it, but end up stranded in the Future City Whilst Danny, Abby and Connor pursued Helen Cutter to the future in order to stop her destroying humanity. They spotted three Megopteran going through the anomaly to Christine Johnson's HQ, but were in no position to stop it. Becker and Sarah Page were able to deal with this threat. (Episode 3.10) shoots the Megopteran]] Trivia *After the Future was changed into the Sterile Earth and presumably later the Fourth Future, the Megopteran were presumably erased from history. *Megopteran is the only future animal with a scientific name. *For Megopterans to reach such size as oxygen levels had to be much higher than present-day, however they have been shown to be able to live in modern times, suggesting that the Megoptorans had evolved some sort of advance respiratory system comparable to mammals or birds. *The Megopteran are the third "bug" creatures, to appear in Primeval after the creatures introduced in Episode 1.2 and Episode 2.5. *This is the first future bug though. *This is the third creature to kill a Future Predator, excluding the animals within the Creature Prison belonging to Oliver Leek. *This is the second non-mammalian animal from the future that the team has encountered - excluding the Fungus Creature as it was not an animal - the first is the Future Shark from Episode 2.4, the third was the Giant Burrowing Insect from Episode 5.1, and the fourth where the Future Beetles from Episode 5.4. *This is the only flying arthropod that the team has encountered. *This is the only creature that is a match for the Future Predators in the future habitat in which both live alongside each other. It is unclear, though, whether the Megopterans are a serious threat to the Future Predators. Though population of both seem to be abundant, it is possible that they lived on different continents and collided due to a continental shift, and they competed with each other. *The Megopteran seem to be winning the battle against the Future predators, as just after the team get back through the anomaly, only Megopterans emerge from the smoke at the end. This could mean they are a threat to the Predators. However two Megopterans were seen being equally matched by the Predators. However in the end it could be seen the Megopterans are feasting on a Future Predator carcass suggesting they are more powerful them their enemies. *It could also be because they can fly short distances. They had the advantage to fly away from combat, whereas the Predators have to run away from combat but Megopterans are shown to be as fast (possibly faster) as the Predators on land. *In Episode 3.8 it is stated that the Megopteran is a descendent of wasps and bees, although the website and several other sources state that it is a beetle or possibly even a praying mantis. *The Larvae that Jack and Danny encounter in the bunker are stated to be Megopteran larvae, but the hatchling Megopteran that attacked Sarah in the present was a smaller version of the adult. This could be some error, unless the creature shrinks in size after transforming from the maggot or it is possibly a larvae of another futuristic arthopod species. **Or it could be that the queen has maggots (because the creators conformed that it is a megopteran maggot on the Series 3 DVD extra ('the making of a creature'), and the warriors lay eggs that hatch immediately into smaller Megopteran, almost like aphids. The maggots could grow into new leaders, and the babies would live their lives as workers untill they've fully grown into warriors. *It was changed a great amount from its original concept art contest entry, removing a stinger, having larger wings, a smoother surface exoskeleton, legs facing different directions, red eyes, a tail, a longer neck, smaller sleeker body, larger anntenae (on a different spot), and the mouthparts have been altered (not to mention 2 spines behind its head) to say suffice it has been altered to look like a Praying Mantis. *It is second largest "bug" creatures the team has encountered. The biggest being the Giant Scorpions in Episode 2.5 *Like other insects, Megopterans doesn't like smoke (naturally as smoke is toxic) - they crawled out of their hive after explosion of Danny's bomb. Danny said "It's smoking them out". *As Abby said in Episode 3.8 , Megopterans' bodies have a large amount of selenium in their bodies. This is likely due to exposure to a selenium-filled environment, as the Future City was apparently rich in selenium. *This is the last new future creature to appear before Primeval's cancelation between Series 3 and 4. Gallery Image:futurebeetleconcept.jpg|Concept design for the Beetle. Image:Primeval megopteran.jpg|Picture from ITV website. Primeval 01.jpg|promo Episode 3.8 Creatures megopteran 320x220.jpg|A Megopteran in Episode 3.10 PEM.JPG|Megopteran in Primeval Evolved Category:Future Creatures Category:Fictional Creatures Category:Series 3 Creatures Category:Creatures that cause deaths Category:Arthropods Category:Creatures Category:Invertebrates Category:Create Your Own Creature Competition creatures Category:Creatures that killed other creatures Category:Recurring creatures Category:Promotional Creatures